Vibrator mounting arrangement

ABSTRACT

A mounting arrangement is provided for removably mounting a vibrator to a structure to be vibrated. The mounting arrangement includes a bracket, adapted to be attached to the vibrator, having a front surface and rear surface. A mounting sleeve formed from a resilient cushioning material includes a front face adapted to be associated with the front surface of the bracket and a rear face adapted to be associated with the rear surface of the bracket. The mounting sleeve is adapted to be coupled to the structure to be vibrated such that the mounting sleeve insulates the bracket from direct contact with the structure to reduce noise levels during operation of the vibrator, while the mounting sleeve effectively transmits vibrations from the bracket to the structure to be vibrated.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a mounting arrangement forremovably mounting a vibrator to a structure to be vibrated, and inparticular to a mounting arrangement which includes a bracket adaptedfor attachment to the vibrator and a wedge-shaped sleeve formed from aresilient material adapted to be coupled to the structure whichinsulates the vibrator and the mounting bracket from direct contact withthe structure to reduce operating noise levels, while effectivelytransmitting vibrations from the vibrator to the structure.

Railroad cars and other storage structures often contain various typesof bulk materials such as sand, gravel, coal and the like. Vibrators areoften attached to these storage structures to thereby promote the flowof bulk material from the structure during unloading. Previously,vibrators have been removably attached to railroad cars with mountingbrackets made from cast iron which weigh anywhere from thirty-one tofifty pounds. The metal mounting bracket was removably mounted to arailroad car by insertion within a generally C-shaped metal receptacleattached to the railroad car. The metal on metal contact between themounting bracket and the receptacle causes the mounting bracket torebound back and forth within the receptacle during operation of thevibrator. This rebound effect results in a loss of the amount ofvibrational energy that is transferred from the vibrator to the railcar. Attempts to overcome the detrimental effects of rebounding havepreviously been made by attempting to secure the mounting bracket to thereceptacle with screws or drift wedges. These attempts have beenunsuccessful as the screws and wedges vibrate loose and otherwiseinhibit the removal of the vibrator and mounting bracket from thereceptacle when desired.

The act of inserting and removing a vibrator and mounting bracket fromthe receptacle of a rail car is difficult and goes against generallifting techniques. The footing normally found in unloading areasadjacent to railroad tracks is generally unstable and exposed to theelements thereby increasing the difficulty of attaching and removing avibrator. In addition, the metal to metal contact of the mountingbracket against the rail car and the resulting rebound of the bracketcreates high levels of noise during operation of the vibrator, posing aserious health risk to workers.

Resilient materials such as urethane have typically been used, as inautomotive motor mounts, to connect two parts together when it isdesired to reduce or inhibit vibrations from being transferred from onepart to the other. The present invention, however, combines elementscompletely contrary to these teachings and utilizes a resilient mountingsleeve to transmit vibrations from the vibrator to the structure to bevibrated, while at the same time eliminating metal to metal contact andproviding a cushion between the vibrator mounting bracket and thestructure to be vibrated, eliminating rebounding between the mountingarrangement and the structure to be vibrated, and substantially reducingthe level of noise generated during operation of the vibrator.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a mounting arrangement for removablymounting a vibrator to a structure to be vibrated, such as a railroadcar. The mounting arrangement includes a generally wedge-shaped mountingsleeve formed from a resilient cushioning material such as a thermosetpolyester urethane material. The mounting sleeve includes a frontsurface having a top end and a bottom end, and a rear surface having atop end and bottom end which is spaced apart from and opposing the frontsurface. The sleeve includes a front face and a spaced apart rear face.The front surface is located on the front face and the rear surface islocated on the rear face. A gap or a pocket is located between the frontand rear faces. The mounting sleeve includes a top surface extendingbetween the top end of the front surface and the top end of the rearsurface and an aperture in communication with the gap. A slot extendsthrough the rear face between the rear surface and the gap. The slotalso extends from the aperture in the top surface to an end wall locatedbetween the top end of the rear surface and the bottom end of the rearsurface.

The mounting arrangement also includes a bracket having a flangedesigned so as to be positioned within the pocket of the sleeve and aweb extending from the flange through the slot in the rear face of thesleeve. The web is adapted to be attached to the vibrator. The mountingsleeve is adapted to be inserted into a complementary shaped femalereceptacle which is permanently mounted on the structure to be vibratedsuch that the mounting sleeve insulates and cushions the bracket fromdirect contact with the structure to be vibrated, eliminates rebounding,and reduces the level of noise generated during operation of thevibrator, while the mounting sleeve effectively transmits vibrationsproduced by the vibrator from the bracket to the structure to bevibrated.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the mounting arrangement of the presentinvention shown attached to a vibrator.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the mounting arrangement.

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the mounting arrangement.

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of the mounting arrangement.

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the mounting sleeve.

FIG. 6 is a rear elevational view of the mounting sleeve.

FIG. 7 is a front elevational view of the mounting sleeve.

FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view of the mounting arrangement andvibrator shown adapted to be mounted to a structure to be vibratedincluding a receptacle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

A preferred embodiment of the mounting arrangement 10 of the presentinvention is shown in FIG. 1 attached to a vibrator 12. The mountingarrangement 10 is adapted to removably mount the vibrator 12 to astructure 14, such as a railroad car, bin, silo or other storagestructure, which is to be vibrated. The vibrator 12 vibrates thestructure 14 through the mounting arrangement 10 to assist in theunloading of bulk material contained within the structure. The vibrator12 is preferably a linear non-impacting vibrator, such as Model No. NTS50/04 manufactured by Netter GmbH and of the type illustrated in U.S.Pat. Nos. 4,526,049, 4,974,494, 4,996,907 and 5,095,809 which areincorporated herein by reference.

The mounting arrangement 10 includes a mounting bracket 18 and amounting cushion or sleeve 20. The mounting bracket 18 includes agenerally planar flange 22 having a top end 24, a bottom end 26, a firstside edge 28, and a second side edge 30. The flange 22 includes an outersurface 32 and an opposing inner surface 34. The bracket 18 alsoincludes a web 38 which is attached perpendicularly to the flange 22,such that the flange 22 and web 38 form a generally T-shaped structureas shown in FIG. 3. The web 38 is generally planar and includes a topend 40, a bottom end 42, a first side edge 44 and a second side edge 46.The flange 22 is attached to the second side edge 46 of the web 38. Thetop end 24 of the flange 22 is located adjacent the top end 40 of theweb 38. The bottom end 26 of the flange 22 is preferably located betweenthe top end 40 and bottom end 42 of the web 38.

A notch 48 is formed in the web 38 at the second edge 46 and is locatedbetween the bottom end 26 of the flange 22 and the bottom end 42 of theweb 38. The web 38 includes a projection 50 at the bottom end 42, suchthat the notch 48 is located between the bottom end 26 of the flange 22and the projection 50. The notch 48 is formed by a top edge 52 locatedat the bottom end 26 of the flange 22, a spaced apart bottom edge 54which forms a part of the projection 50, and a side edge 56 whichextends between the top edge 52 and the bottom edge 54. The side edge 56is inclined at an angle to the flange 22.

A mounting plate 60 is attached to the first side edge 44 of the web 38and is generally perpendicular thereto. The bracket 18 is generallyI-shaped as shown in FIG. 3. The mounting plate 60 includes a pluralityof apertures to facilitate attachment of the vibrator 12 to the mountingbracket 18. The mounting bracket 18 is preferably formed from steel,although other types of metals, and other types of rigid materials, maybe used as desired.

The mounting sleeve 20 includes a front surface 64 having a top edge 66,a spaced apart bottom edge 68, a first side edge 70 and a spaced apartsecond side edge 72. The front surface 64 is preferably concavely curvedin an arc such that the top edge 66 and bottom edge 68 are curved whilethe first and second side edges 70 and 72 are substantially rectilinear.The purpose of the curved front surface 64 is to assist in removal ofthe sleeve 20 from the mounting receptacle mounted on the surface of theobject to be vibrated. Alternatively, the front surface may be generallyplanar. The sleeve 20 also includes a rear surface 76 having a top edge78, a bottom edge 80, a first side edge 82 and a second side edge 84.The rear surface 76 is preferably substantially planar. The rear surface76 is inclined at an angle to the front surface 64 such that the sleeve20 is generally wedge-shaped, having a relatively narrow tip at itsbottom end and a relatively wide top end as shown in FIG. 2. The frontsurface 64 preferably extends generally vertically such that it isgenerally parallel to the flange 22, while the rear surface 76 isinclined at an angle to the flange 22. The sleeve 20 includes a bottomsurface 88 which extends between the bottom edge 80 of the rear surface76 and the bottom edge 68 of the front surface 64. A top surface 90extends between the top edge 78 of the rear surface 76 and the top edge66 of the front surface 64.

The sleeve 20 includes a front face 94 and a rear face 96. The rear face96 opposes the front face 94 and is spaced apart from the front face 94by a gap or pocket 98. The pocket 98 is sized to receive the flange 22of the bracket 18. The front surface 64 is located on the front face 94and the rear surface 76 is located on the rear face 96. The front face94 is adapted to be located adjacent to the outer surface 32 of theflange 22 and the rear face 96 of the sleeve 20 is adapted to be locatedadjacent the inner surface 34 of the flange 22. The pocket 98 includes abottom wall 100 shown in FIG. 6 which extends between the front face 94and the rear face 96. The top surface 90 includes a slot 102 which is incommunication with the pocket 98. The sleeve 20 also includes agenerally rectangular slot 104 which extends through the rear face 96from the rear surface 76 to the pocket 98 and which extends from theslot 102 in the top surface 90 to the bottom wall 100. The slot 104 isadapted to receive the web 38 of the bracket 18. As best shown in FIG.5, the thickness of the rear face 96 between the rear surface 76 and thepocket 98 is greater than the thickness of the front face 94 between thefront surface 64 and the pocket 98.

The front surface 64 preferably includes a rib 106 which projectsoutwardly as shown best in FIG. 5. The rib 106 extends generallylinearly between the top edge 66 and the bottom edge 68 of the frontsurface 64 and is generally centrally located between the first sideedge 70 and second side edge 72. The rib 106 projects outwardly from thefront surface 64 to a front edge 108. The front edge 108 of the rib 106is preferably located approximately coplanar with the first and secondside edges 70 and 72 of the front surface 64.

The mounting sleeve 20 acts as a cushion between the bracket 18 and thestructure to be vibrated. As used herein the term cushion includesanything that dampens shocks or prevents chafing or rattling; anythingused to counteract shocks, jars or jolts, or to check the motion of thevibrator mounting arrangement or quiet its operation. The cushion may beformed from materials such as cloth, leather, wood, rubber or elastomerssuch as urethane. The cushion or sleeve 20 is preferably formed from anonmetallic and resilient dead blow cushioning material, such as apremium thermoset polyester urethane compound as used in dead blowhammers. The sleeve 20 preferably has a hardness of approximately 96Shore A. This type of dead blow urethane compound is less prone tohysteresis and transmits vibration more efficiently than the more commonpolyether/ester urethane compounds. Elastomers typically tend to reboundor bounce after being struck against a hard body. The dead blowcushioning material provides a low or zero rebound characteristic, suchthat it does not tend to bounce when struck against a hard body. Thedead blow urethane elastomer is deadened by the inclusion of fillerswhich minimize the typical characteristic of elastomers to rebound afterdeformation. This type of dead blow urethane compound effectivelyprevents rebounding of the mounting arrangement 10 during operation ofthe vibrator 2. The cushion or sleeve 20 may also be formed from rubbersthat are oil filled to provide zero or low rebound characteristics. Thecushion or sleeve 20 may also be formed from other materials whichprovide similar cushioning characteristics, and rebounding and soundsuppressing or abating characteristics, while effectively transmittingvibrations.

While the preferred embodiment of the sleeve 20 is shown herein as beingintegrally molded in a single piece, the sleeve 20 may alternatively beformed in two or more separate pieces. For example, the front face 94may be formed separately from the rear face 96. In this case, the frontface 94 would be attached to the outer surface 32 of the flange 22 by anadhesive or other fastening mechanism and the rear face 96 wouldsimilarly be attached to the inner surface 34 of the flange 22. Inaddition, the rear face 96 could be formed in two sections, with onesection being attached to the inner surface 34 of the flange 22 at oneside of the web 38 and the other section of the rear face 96 beingattached to the inner surface 34 of the flange 22 on the other side ofthe web 38.

In operation, the bottom end 26 of the flange 22 and the top edge 52 ofthe notch 48 in the web 38 are respectively inserted in to the pocket 98and slot 104 of the sleeve 20 through the slot 102 in the top surface 90of the sleeve 20. The bracket 18 is inserted into the pocket 98 and slot104 until the bottom end 26 of the flange 22 engages the bottom wall 100of the sleeve 20. The bottom tip end of the sleeve 20 fits within thenotch 48 such that the projection 50 will engage the bottom surface 88at the bottom end of the sleeve 20 to prevent unintended removal of thesleeve 20 from the bracket 18. However, the tip at the bottom end of thesleeve 20 may be resiliently bent outwardly away from the notch 48 toclear the projection 50 and thereby allow sliding removal of the sleeve20 from the bracket 18 when desired, such as if the sleeve 20 shouldbecome damaged and require replacement or if a different size sleeve isrequired.

The vibrator 12 is attached to the mounting plate 60 by nuts and boltsor other types of fasteners. The tip of the sleeve 20 is then insertedinto a complementary shaped receptacle 16 or holder on the structure 14to be vibrated which typically includes two opposing and spaced apartgenerally L-shaped ears 17 which wrap around opposite sides of thesleeve 20 to engage the rear face 96 at each side of the web 38. Thesleeve 20 is inserted downwardly into the receptacle 16 until the rearface 96 and the front face 94 are securely wedged within the receptacle16. The vibrator 12 may then be activated. Vibrations from the vibrator12 will be transferred to the bracket 18 and the sleeve 20 will transferthe vibrations from the bracket 18 to the structure 14. The mountingsleeve 20 insulates and cushions the bracket 18 from direct contact withthe receptacle 16 or structure 14 to prevent metal on metal contact andprevents rebounding or rattling of the mounting arrangement 10 withinthe receptacle 16. The sleeve 20 thereby reduces the high level of noisethat is typically generated during operation of a vibrator which isattached to the structure 14 by a metal on metal connection and resultsin a working environment with greater auditory safety. The eliminationof the rebounding of the mounting arrangement 10 also results in a moreefficient transfer of vibrational energy from the vibrator 12 to thestructure to be vibrated.

The mounting arrangement 10 and vibrator 12 can be removed from thereceptacle 16 more easily than with prior art arrangements by liftingupwardly on the bracket 18 to slide the sleeve 20 out of the receptacle16. A handle (not shown) such as a rubber coated cable may be attachedto the bracket 18 to facilitate insertion and removal. The projection 50engages the bottom end of the sleeve 20 during removal of the mountingarrangement 10 from the receptacle 16 to prevent the flange 22 fromsliding out of the sleeve 20. The rib 106 on the sleeve limits theamount of surface area contact between the front surface 64 and thestructure 14 to make removal of the sleeve 20 from the receptacle 16easier than if the entire front surface 64 of the sleeve 20 engaged thestructure 14. The resiliency and cushioning properties of the mountingsleeve 20 enable the mounting arrangement 10 to be securely attached tothe structure such that the mounting arrangement 10 will not vibrateloose from the structure and will maintain contact with the structure 14during operation of the vibrator 12 to eliminate rebounding, whileallowing the mounting arrangement 10 to be selectively and easilyremoved from the structure 14 when desired.

The mounting arrangement 10 weighs approximately eight pounds when thebracket 18 is formed from steel and is substantially lighter in weightthan prior mounting brackets. Additional weight savings can be obtainedby forming the bracket 18 from lighter weight metals if desired.

Various features of the invention have been particularly shown anddescribed in connection with the illustrated embodiment of theinvention, however, it must be understood that these particulararrangements merely illustrate, and that the invention is to be givenits fullest interpretation within the terms of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A mounting arrangement for removably mounting avibrator attached to a mounting bracket to a structure to be vibrated,the structure to be vibrated having a receptacle secured thereto forreceiving said mounting arrangement, said mounting arrangementincluding:A non-metallic cushion member adapted to be disposed betweenthe mounting bracket and the receptacle, said cushion member adapted tosubstantially insulate the mounting bracket from direct contact with thereceptacle and the structure to be vibrated; said cushion member havinga substantially C-shaped portion including a slot opening and providinga first face adapted to be associated with a first surface of themounting bracket and a second face adapted to be associated with asecond surface of the mounting bracket; whereby said cushion member isadapted to substantially insulate the mounting bracket of the vibratorfrom direct contact with the receptacle and the structure to be vibratedto reduce noise levels during operation of the vibrator, but saidcushion member is effective to transmit vibrations from the vibrator tothe structure.
 2. The mounting arrangement of claim 1 wherein saidcushion member is formed from a resilient material.
 3. The mountingarrangement of claim 1 wherein said cushion member is formed from anelastomeric material.
 4. The mounting arrangement of claim 1 whereinsaid cushion member comprises a mounting sleeve that is adapted to beremovably inserted in the receptacle of the structure to be vibrated. 5.The mounting arrangement of claim 4 wherein said mounting sleeve isformed from a resilient material.
 6. The mounting arrangement of claim 4wherein said mounting sleeve includes a front surface having a top endand a bottom end, and a rear surface having a top end and a bottom end,said front surface being located on said first face and said rearsurface being located on said second face.
 7. The mounting arrangementof claim 6 wherein said rear surface is disposed at an inclined angle tosaid front surface such that said mounting sleeve is generallywedge-shaped.
 8. The mounting arrangement of claim 6 including a gaplocated between said first face and said second face, said gap adaptedto receive the bracket.
 9. The mounting arrangement of claim 8 whereinsaid mounting sleeve includes a top surface extending between said topend of said front surface and said top end of said rear surface, saidtop surface including an aperture in communication with said gap. 10.The mounting arrangement of claim 9 wherein said slot opening extendsthrough said first face between said rear surface of said second faceand said gap, said slot opening adapted to receive the mounting bracket.11. The mounting arrangement of claim 10 wherein said slot openingextends from said aperture in said top surface to an end wall locatedbetween said top end and said bottom end of said rear surface.
 12. Themounting arrangement of claim 9 wherein said gap forms a pocketextending between said aperture in said top surface and a bottom wallextending between said second face and said first face.
 13. The mountingarrangement of claim 6 wherein said front surface is generally concavelycurved.
 14. The mounting arrangement of claim 13 wherein said frontsurface includes an outwardly projecting rib adapted to aid in removalof said mounting sleeve from the receptacle.
 15. The mountingarrangement of claim 14 wherein said rib extends generally linearlybetween said top end and said bottom end of said front surface.
 16. Themounting arrangement of claim 1 wherein said second face is thicker thansaid first face.
 17. A mounting arrangement for removably mounting avibrator to a structure to be vibrated, the structure to be vibratedhaving a receptacle secured thereto for receiving said mountingarrangement, said mounting arrangement including:a bracket adapted to beattached to the vibrator, said bracket including a first surface and asecond surface; and a non-metallic cushioning member adapted to beconnected to said bracket for substantially insulating said bracket fromdirect contact with the receptacle and the structure to be vibrated,said non-metallic cushioning member including a substantially C-shapedcross-sectional portion having a front face adapted to be associatedwith said first surface of said bracket, and a rear face adapted to beassociated with said second surface of said bracket, whereby saidnon-metallic cushioning member is adapted to be coupled to the structureto be vibrated such that said non-metallic cushioning membersubstantially insulates said bracket from direct contact with thereceptacle and the structure to be vibrated to reduce noise levelsduring operation of the vibrator, while said non-metallic cushioningmember effectively transmits vibrations from said bracket to thestructure to be vibrated.
 18. The mounting arrangement of claim 17wherein said non-metallic cushioning member is formed from a resilientmaterial.
 19. The mounting arrangement of claim 17 wherein saidnon-metallic cushioning member is formed from an elastomeric material.20. The mounting arrangement of claim 17 wherein said non-metalliccushioning member comprises a mounting sleeve.
 21. The mountingarrangement of claim 20 wherein said mounting sleeve is formed from aresilient material.
 22. The mounting arrangement of claim 20 whereinsaid mounting sleeve includes a gap located between said rear face andsaid front face, said gap adapted to receive said bracket.
 23. Themounting arrangement of claim 22 wherein said bracket includes a flangelocated in said gap and a web extending from said flange, said web beingadapted to be attached to the vibrator.
 24. The mounting arrangement ofclaim 22 wherein said rear face includes a slot extending therethroughin communication with said gap, said slot adapted to receive saidbracket.
 25. The mounting arrangement of claim 24 wherein said slotextends from a top end of said rear face.
 26. The mounting arrangementof claim 20 wherein said sleeve includes a front surface located on saidfront face, and a rear surface located on said rear face.
 27. Themounting arrangement of claim 26 wherein said rear surface extends at aninclined angle to said front surface such that said mounting sleeve isgenerally wedge-shaped.
 28. The mounting arrangement of claim 23 whereinsaid web includes a projection adapted to engage a bottom end of saidmounting sleeve, said projection being adapted to retain said flangewithin said gap during removal of said mounting arrangement from thestructure to be vibrated while allowing selective removal of saidmounting sleeve from said bracket.
 29. The mounting arrangement forremovably mounting a vibrator and a mounting bracket to a structure tobe vibrated, said mounting arrangement including:a mounting sleeveformed from a resilient dead blow cushion material that has a low orzero rebound characteristic; said sleeve having a front face; saidsleeve having a rear face spaced apart from and opposing said frontface; and a pocket formed within said sleeve between said front face andsaid rear face, said pocket adapted to receive the mounting bracket;whereby said mounting sleeve is adapted to insulate the mounting bracketof the vibrator from direct contact with the structure to be vibrated toreduce noise levels during operation of the vibrator, but said mountingsleeve is effective to transmit vibrations from the vibrator to thestructure.
 30. The mounting arrangement of claim 29 wherein saidresilient dead blow material comprises a polyester urethane material.